The wrap-up: A wrap rage maverick

I'm a lifelong fan of basketball as well as a weekly player (yes, even at my upper 40-something age). Mark Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team, recently ranted on his blog about packaging, as was reported at the www.cnet.com Blogma site You'll find a link to Cuban's R-rated tirade, which was prompted after he purchased a Seagate computer product that was packaged in one of those ubiquitous, hermetically-sealed plastic clamshells. Cuban's tale of woe includes three pairs of scissors, a knife, bloodied fingers, and a few choice words. If you follow basketball, you know that it doesn't seem to take much to upset Mr. Cuban. Maybe he can buy the company and fix its packaging. Several others weighed in as well with their horror stories of blood shed in the name of packaging. He raised a good point we can all relate to. I had a similar experience as Cuban—without the blood or profanity— two weeks ago after I bought a new portable CD player. It also came in a clear sealed thermoform. Opening was an injury-threatening challenge as I worked sharp scissors along the package contours. Opening of these things is no easier for those of us more familiar with packaging than it is for Mr. Cuban.My feeling, by the time the player was removed, was that it had better work because the packaging was in shambles by that point—careful as I tried, there was little of it to return that wasn't cut or mangled. And that's the intent. However, let me point out that in the same purchase I bought an Eveready battery recharger similarly packaged in a sealed thermoform. This time, though, I was pleased to see that it featured a perforated back panel that made it as easy to open as the player wasn't. I'm not sure what the implications are for this feature in anti-theft prevention, though it did make a surprisingly loud zipping sound when I opened it. Now that was a good package opening experience: no blood, no pain, no sweat. And isn't that the way it should be whether you own a basketball team or a new CD player?

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